1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless telecommunications, and more specifically, relates to a system and method for supporting multiple simultaneous group communications among communicating devices on a wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology advancement has made mobile telephones or wireless communications devices inexpensive and accordingly ubiquitous. As wireless telecommunication devices are manufactured with greater processing ability and storage, they also become more versatile and incorporate many features including direct radio communication capability between two or a group of individual handsets. This direct radio communication capability is commonly known as the push-to-talk (PTT) or “walkie-talkie” feature that allows a user with one handset to communicate with the device of a predefined set of members of a group without dialing a destination telephone number.
In one version of a PTT system, a wireless telecommunication device, such as a handset, uses one single frequency for both upward and downward communications with a remote server, while in a normal wireless communication a wireless telephone uses two frequencies for communicating with the server, one for outgoing and one for incoming communications. The PTT system requires the person who is speaking to press a button while talking and then release it when done. Any listener in the group can then press their button to respond. In this manner, the system determines which direction the signal travels. In a typical configuration, when a user makes a call to a receiving party or a group of receiving parties using the PTT system, the user's handset first makes a request to a remote server. The remote server verifies that no other party is using the communication channel and the channel is available then assigns the channel to the user. The user's message is received by the server and the server duplicates the message for each and every receiving party. After the message is transmitted to every receiving party, the channel is released and ready for use by other parties.
In one type of PTT system an existing cellular technology connects the recipient devices of a PTT group. Conversely a normal “walkie-talkie” style two-way radio will only operate if the radios are within a certain distance of each other such that line-of-sign remote communication is possible. Cellular telecommunication systems using the PTT feature can communicate anywhere within a service area specified by its service provider, which is typically a large urban area, or even nationally.
Generally, in a communication through the PTT feature on existing systems, one wireless device is part of one PTT communication group and a user at one wireless device cannot communicate simultaneously with multiple PTT communication groups. Additionally, while an incoming PTT message is playing at the wireless device, the user cannot interrupt the current speaker. It is thus to such a system and method to enable a wireless device to simultaneously monitor multiple PTT communication groups the present invention is primarily directed.